Donald Thomas Harwin (born 5 July 1964
[) is an Australian politician. He was the ]New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
Special Minister of State
The Special Minister of State (SMOS) in the Government of Australia is a position currently held by Don Farrell since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022. The minister is responsible for various parliamentary, electo ...
and the in the second Berejiklian ministry
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
since April 2019; and the Vice-President of the Executive Council
The Vice-President of the Executive Council is the minister in the Government of Australia who acts as the presiding officer of meetings of the Federal Executive Council when the Governor-General is absent. The Vice-President of the Executiv ...
, and the Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council since January 2017 in the Berejiklian government. He briefly resigned from his roles with effect from 15 April 2020, however was reinstated on 3 July 2020.
Harwin was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council
The New South Wales Legislative Council, often referred to as the upper house, is one of the two chambers of the parliament of the Australian state of New South Wales. The other is the Legislative Assembly. Both sit at Parliament House in th ...
representing the Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
from 27 March 1999 until his resignation on 22 March 2022.
Harwin has previously served as the Minister for the Arts, the Minister for Resources and the Minister for Energy and Utilities in the first Berejiklian ministry, from January 2017 until March 2019;[ and served as the twentieth ]President of the New South Wales Legislative Council
The President of the New South Wales Legislative Council is the presiding officer of the upper house of the Parliament of New South Wales, the Legislative Council. The presiding officer of the lower house is the speaker of the Legislative Asse ...
between May 2011 and January 2017.
Early years and background
Harwin was born to parents Don and Evelyn Harwin.[Who' Who Australia] He joined the Liberal Party in Lugarno and the Young Liberals in Earlwood
Earlwood is a suburb in Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Earlwood is located 10 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is part of the St George area. It is in the local government areas of ...
in 1983 and graduated from the University of Sydney
The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...
in 1985 with a Bachelor of Economics
The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon),
or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics;
the ...
(Honours
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...
). While at university, Harwin was a member of the Sydney University Liberal Club and subsequently had life membership conferred by that club.
In 1987, Harwin commenced working as an assistant on electoral matters in the office of Ron Phillips. Harwin worked for a number of ministers in the Greiner and Fahey Liberal governments between 1988 and 1990 and 1991 and 1995. Between 1988 and 1990, Harwin was NSW President of the Young Liberal movement, becoming a member of the State Executive of the NSW branch of the Liberal Party during the same period. Harwin was re-elected to the Liberal Party State Executive, serving between 1994 and 2000. Appointed the Assistant Campaign Director of the NSW Liberal Party between 1990 and 1991, Harwin became a public affairs consultant between 1995 and 1999.
He takes a strong interest in psephological matters as well as political history, frequently providing strategic advice to the Liberal party on State and Federal redistribution processes. He has also contributed two chapters to the book ''Social Justice: Fraud or Fair Go?'' edited by Dr Marlene Goldsmith
Marlene Mary Herbert Goldsmith (29 September 1942 – 13 April 2000) was an Australian politician. She was a Liberal member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.
Born Marlene Herbert in Gunnedah to parents Cecil and Esme, and brothe ...
. He also contributed "1971 State General Election" to ''The People's Choice (Volume III),'' edited by Hogan and Clune, "Sir Joseph Carruthers" to ''The Premiers of NSW (Volume II),'' edited by Clune and Turner, and "Women in the NSW Coalition Parties" (with Jenny Gardiner MLC) to ''No Fit Place for Women,'' edited by Brennan and Chappel.
Political career
Pre-selected for the sixth position on the joint Liberal–National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
election ticket for the 1999 NSW state election, Harwin was elected as a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, being the thirteenth candidate elected at that election. Serving an eight-year term, Harwin was re-elected at the 2007 NSW state election, at which he was the seventh candidate elected. He continued to serve as opposition whip in the Legislative Council.
Harwin was elected Opposition Whip on 3 April 2003 following the retirement of John Jobling . Harwin was also appointed a Trustee of the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Fund. In 2000, he raised the issue of unsafe railway tracks in the Illawarra region, claiming that trains could only run at twenty kilometres because of faulty maintenance.
Following his re-election, Harwin served as Deputy Chair of the Procedure Committee and had successfully moved a motion in the Upper House to create a Select Committee on Electoral and Political Party Funding, of which he served as Deputy Chair. Following the election of the O'Farrell
O'Farrell is an anglicised form of the Old Irish patronym ''Ó Fearghail''.
People with the surname
* Barry O'Farrell, Australian politician
* Bernadette O'Farrell (1924–1999), Irish actress
* Bob O'Farrell, American baseballer
* Brett O'Farrel ...
- Stoner Liberal/National coalition government, Harwin was elected President of the Legislative Council and chair of the Procedure Committee. In a submission to the Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in regards to the Marriage Equality Amendment Bill 2010, he expressed his strong support for legal equality for same-sex couples. In reference to calls for civil unions he stated "The establishment by government of a new and separate institution for same-sex couples only compounds rather than resolves this issue of inequality." On 19 June 2014, in his role as President of the Legislative Council, he controversially used the powers under Standing Order 192 to eject a Greens MP, Jeremy Buckingham, from the chamber until the end of the sitting after the MP accused him of "running interference" in defence of government members during Question Time.
In October 2016, in the wake of the release of taped conversations where U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
bragged about his fame allowing him to grope women, a motion was tabled by Greens Legislative Councillor Jeremy Buckingham to condemn the Republican nominee's statements. The motion included the statement that the NSW parliament "agrees with those who have described Mr Trump as 'a revolting slug' unfit for public office". As the president of the upper house, Harwin allowed the term "revolting slug" to stand as suitable parliamentary language. The motion was passed.
Following the resignation of Mike Baird as Premier, Gladys Berejiklian
Gladys Berejiklian (born 22 September 1970) is an Australian former politician who served as the 45th premier of New South Wales and the leader of the New South Wales division of the Liberal Party from 2017 to 2021.
Berejiklian became a member ...
was elected as Liberal leader and sworn in as Premier. The first Berejiklian ministry
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
was subsequently formed. Harwin resigned as President of the Legislative Council and was subsequently sworn in as the Minister for Resources, the Minister for Energy and Utilities, the Minister for the Arts, and the Vice-President of the Executive Council with effect from 30 January 2017.[ Following the 2019 state election Harwin was sworn in as the Special Minister of State, the Minister for Public Services and Employee Relations, Aboriginal Affairs and the Arts, and the Vice-President of the Executive Council in the second Berejiklian ministry with effect from 2 April 2019. He continued in his previous role as the Leader of the Government Business in the Legislative Council.]
Harwin resigned as Minister of the Arts on 10 April 2020, effective 15 April 2020, after being fined for supposedly defying the ban on non-essential travel during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia
The COVID-19 pandemic in Australia is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of the coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first confirmed case in Australia was identified on 25 Januar ...
. On 3 July 2020, his fine was dismissed and his ministerial and parliamentary portfolios were reinstated.[
On 18 December 2021 Harwin announced that he opted not to be considered in the new ministry due to personal reasons. Harwin resigned from the Legislative Council on 22 March 2022.]
Personal life
In a speech to the Legislative Council on 20 November 2014, Harwin publicly disclosed that he is gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
.
See also
*First Berejiklian ministry
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
*Second Berejiklian ministry
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harwin, Don
1964 births
Living people
Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of New South Wales
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Council
Politicians from Sydney
University of Sydney alumni
Presidents of the New South Wales Legislative Council
LGBT legislators in Australia
LGBT conservatism
Gay politicians
21st-century Australian politicians
21st-century LGBT people